On Aug. 17, Loeffler sued Phillips and the five individual band members. In his lawsuit, filed in a Florida court and obtained by E! News, he alleged “breach of contract, anticipatory breach of contract and tortious interference with a business relationship.”
“Signature has filed suit to preserve its rights under contracts that are legal, binding, and fully enforceable under Florida law,” lawyers for the company told E! News in their statement. “These profit share agreements have been very beneficial for the individual members of WDW, and approximately $10 million has already been paid to the members of WDW under these agreements.”
On Aug. 26, Philips countersued Loeffler in Los Angeles to try to remove him from the band’s management team. In his lawsuit, also obtained by E! News, he detailed accusations about his former partner that are similar to those the band made in their recent statement.
In the complaint, Phillips claimed that at the start of the group’s career, Loeffler subjected the band members, four of whom were minors at the time, “to cruel and unsafe conditions when Loeffler was living with them at a rental property that had been secured for them to develop music.”
“Loeffler subjected the members to daily verbal abuse, screaming at them at the top of his lungs, sometimes for 10-20 minutes at a time, and threatening to end their careers if they did not follow his directions.” the lawsuit stated. “Loeffler would monitor almost every movement they made, not allow them to go upstairs, and hardly allow them to leave the house.”
The complaint continued, “Loeffler did not allow them to have friends or visitors, did not feed them properly, and each night set a house alarm, which they did not know the code to, to make sure they did not leave.”
